Team Captain
Michael Spurr
To contact Michael use the site Contact Form and select U2050 Captain from the dropdown.
2025-26 Team navigation
Teams 2025-26 page | U2050 | U1850 | U1650 | U1450 | County Classical | SCCU on ECF LMS
Team fixtures
| Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04-Oct-2025 | Kent | 7-9 | Essex | 12:30 |
| 01-Nov-2025 | Essex | 8½-7½ | Middx | 13:30 |
| 22-Nov-2025 | Middx | – | Essex | |
| 06-Dec-2025 | Essex | – | Surrey | 13:30 |
| 24-Jan-2026 | Surrey | – | Essex | |
| 28-Feb-2026 | Essex | – | Kent | 13:30 |
Played: 2; Won: 2; Drawn: 0; Lost: 0; Points: 4; Games – For: 17½ Against: 14½.
Match cards
U2050
Player Stats
| U2050 @ 01 Nov 2025 | Rtg | P | W | D | L | Pts | % |
| Malcolm Kingsley | 1842 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 100.00 |
| Robert Killeen | 1955 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 100.00 |
| Martin McCall | 1900 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1½ | 75.00 |
| Ivan Myall | 2040 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1½ | 75.00 |
| Ashwin GopiKrishna | 1826 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1½ | 75.00 |
| Steve Rix | 1994 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1½ | 75.00 |
| John Hodgson | 2036 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1½ | 75.00 |
| Peter Jaszkiwskyj | 2009 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Edgar Wilson | 1964 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Madison Bowden | 1896 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 100.00 |
| Philip Staniland | 1838 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 50.00 |
| Ian Hunnable | 1833 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 50.00 |
| George Hillman | 1700 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Mark Murrell | 1860 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 50.00 |
| Michael Spurr | 1859 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Neville Twitchell | 1809 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Salim Kriman | 2000 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Ian Reynolds | 1827 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Muhammad Faheem | 1606 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| John Moore | 1998 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| Colin Ramage | 1897 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.00 |
| 21 players | 32 | 13 | 9 | 10 | 17½ | 54.69% |
U2050
Played Saturday, 4 October 2025, at St Mary Cray
| Kent | v | Essex | |
| 1 | Kolomvas, Dimitrios 2049 (2049) (B) | ½-½ | Hodgson, John H 2036 (2047) (W) |
| 2 | Wheatley, Wilfred 2019 (2019) | 0-1 | Myall, Ivan J 2040 (2009) |
| 3 | O’Donovan, Paul J 2010 (2010) | 0-1 | Jaszkiwskyj, Peter 2009 (2009) |
| 4 | Hartley, Luke 2005 (2005) | 1-0 | Kriman, Salim 2000 (2000) |
| 5 | Keenan, Brendan 1991 (1991) | ½-½ | Rix, Steven JL 1994 (1993) |
| 6 | Swiatkowski, Aram 1932 (1932) | 0-1 | Killeen, Robert T 1955 (1955) |
| 7 | Swiatkowski, Dominik 1930 (1930) | 0-1 | McCall, Martin 1900 (1900) |
| 8 | Jiang, Freddy 1907 (1907) | 1-0 | Spurr, Michael 1859 (1859) |
| 9 | Brown, John 1903 (1933) | 0-1 | Staniland, Philip 1838 (1844) |
| 10 | Allen, John P 1850 (1850) | 0-1 | Kingsley, Malcolm P 1842 (1842) |
| 11 | Nevols, Keith 1851 (1850) | 0-1 | GopiKrishna, Ashwin 1826 (1836) |
| 12 | Sands, Alan VH 1838 (1844) | 1-0 | Reynolds, D Ian W 1827 (1827) |
| 13 | Anstead, Jerry 1831 (1832) | ½-½ | Hunnable, Ian D 1833 (1825) |
| 14 | Brennan, Henry 1804 (1862) | 1-0 | Twitchell, Neville H 1809 (1809) |
| 15 | Lane, Robert E 1803 (1803) | ½-½ | Hillman , George 1700 () |
| 16 | Beavis, Barrington 1766 (1766) | 1-0 | Faheem, Muhammad 1606 (1606) |
| Average: 1906 | 7-9 | Average: 1880 |
Report by skipper Michael Spurr
Our first match of the season was a tricky away tie against Kent. Unfortunately, a number of players were unavailable and I had some trouble finding 16 players! Thankfully, a full team did form in the week before the match and I’d like to thank everyone who was able to play (shout-out to the U2050 debutants, Ashwin, George and Muhammed, who helped to make up the team).
I was also worried about the impact of Storm Amy on travel to Kent (particularly the Dartford Crossing), but conditions were not as bad as I feared and everyone made it to St Mary’s Cray.
Last season, there was a recurring theme of Essex making a good start and then falling away to lose the match. The match away to Kent started in a similar fashion, with Philip’s mating attack gaining the first point. A draw for Ian Hunnable, followed by wins for Rob (sacrificial attack) and Ashwin on his debut (piling up on the h-file) gave Essex a 3 point lead early on. The Kent fightback began with wins on Boards 16 and 4, but Essex still held a 1 point lead.
Rather than losing further, as tended to happen last season, the Essex 3 point lead was restored with wins for Ivan (almost perfectly matching the words of wisdom on his t-shirt!) and Pete. With draws for George and John, Essex moved up to 6½ points with only two more required. Despite Kent victories on Boards 12 and 14, Essex success was secured by wins for Malcolm and Martin. A draw for Steve took us to 9 points with my game the final one to finish. Although better on the board, my opponent had seconds left on the clock. I then absent-mindedly made an illegal move! The penalty was 2 minutes added to my opponent’s clock and I resigned shortly afterwards (knowing that the match was already won).
So, after the disappointment of losing our first three matches last season, we started this season with an excellent win away to a Kent team which outgraded us on average by ~30 points.
U2050
Played Saturday, 1 November 2025, at Wanstead
| Essex | v | Middx | |
| 1 | Hodgson, John H 2036 (2050) [W] | 1-0 | Zadymov, Ihor 2042 (2044) [B] |
| 2 | Myall, Ivan J 2040 (2010) | ½-½ | Calvert, D Ian 1968 (1973) |
| 3 | Murrell, Mark RA 1860 (1836) [s] | ½-½ | Cowan, Xavier 1918 (1905) |
| 4 | Moore, John C 1998 (1991) | 0-1 | Solomon, D Ajoy 1906 (1906) |
| 5 | Rix, Steven JL 1994 (2009) | 1-0 | Fleming, Liam 1901 (1901) |
| 6 | Wilson, Edgar 1964 (1989) | 1-0 | Cann, Arthur 1874 (1881) |
| 7 | Killeen, Robert T 1955 (1954) | 1-0 | Sheard, Jack 1861 (1879) |
| 8 | GopiKrishna, Ashwin 1826 (1913) | ½-½ | Lepetun, Jan 1852 (1862) |
| 9 | McCall, Martin 1900 (1916) | ½-½ | Jayakumar, Bharath 1835 (1829) |
| 10 | Ramage, Colin R 1897 (1905) | 0-1 | Hayali, Laith 1828 (1812) |
| 11 | Bowden, Madison B 1896 (1889) | 1-0 | Kennelly, Paul 1807 (1849) |
| 12 | Spurr, Michael 1859 (1843) | 0-1 | Parakh, Shlok 1779 (1764) |
| 13 | Staniland, Philip 1838 (1866) | 0-1 | Fincham, Leon HJ 1703 (1681) |
| 14 | Kingsley, Malcolm P 1842 (1833) | 1-0 | Padam, JJ 1687 (1691) |
| 15 | Reynolds, D Ian W 1827 (1806) | 0-1 | Cooke, Charlie 1658 (1636) |
| 16 | Hunnable, Ian D 1833 (1827) | ½-½ | O’Caolaidhe, Cormac 1656 (1680) |
| Average: 1911 | 8½-7½ | Average: 1830 |
Report from Michael Spurr
On paper, this should have been a comfortable win for Essex, with a significant rating advantage in the bottom half. However, previous matches have taught us that Essex U2050 and ‘on paper’ results rarely go hand-in-hand! As it transpired, the top eight boards proved the difference for Essex with four wins and a single loss. A number of ‘shock’ results in the bottom eight boards kept Middlesex in the match and took things down to the wire.
After a couple of hours play, initial results went badly for Essex with losses on 15 and 10. However, the match was soon level with a nice rook endgame from Malcolm on Board 14 and breakthrough attack from Steve on Board 5. A sequence of draws followed, leaving the match tied at 3½-3½.
Essex fell two behind again with losses for Philip and me in quick succession. However, there followed a surge of four wins in a row for Madison, Robert, John H and Edgar, taking Essex to 7½ and a 2 point lead. Only one point needed from the three remaining games.
On Board 4, John M was playing on increments in a tricky queen and minor piece endgame. Unfortunately, time pressure was decisive in the end and Middlesex pulled a point back. On Board 8, Ashwin was playing in a knight v bishop ending with most pawns blockaded. After some shuffling of pieces a draw was agreed and, at worst, the match would be tied. Fortunately, on Board 16, the final game to finish, Ian’s opponent offered a draw in a rook and bishop endgame. With both players having a few minutes left on the clock, Ian quickly accepted to my great relief!
So, Essex won the match by the tightest margin, 8½-7½, and move on to 2/2 (a welcome contrast to last season!).
Many thanks to everyone who played, and special thanks to Mark Murrell for stepping in on Board 3 and gaining a very impressive draw.
U2050
To be Played Saturday, 22 November 2025, Away
| Middx | v | Essex | |
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U2050
To be Played Saturday, 6 December 2025, at Wanstead
| Essex | v | Surrey | |
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U2050
To be Played Saturday, 24 January 2025, Away
| Surrey | v | Essex | |
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U2050
To be Played Saturday, 28 February 2025, at Wanstead
| Essex | v | Kent | |
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